wars. we can fight this war i think in a much better way. let's get onto the harder questions. what kind of secret courts do we want and what kind do we deserve? that does it for us on "the cycle." martin, it's all you'res. >> it's wednesday, june 19th. while the president stands upon the world stage, it's right by right wing wednesday in washington. >> we can be a little more informal among friends. >> let's begin on the irs. >> it's basically started with one man and he so happened to be a conservative conservative republican. >> i an manager does not tell -- >> there has to be house cleaning at the irs. >> the pitcher knows to do it. >> critics say that republicans and you in particular. >> cherry picked a few facts. >> the whole transcript will be put out. >> what do we have to do to make women realize we don't hate them. >> another day in the life of the republican controlled

congress. >> change our attitude on abortion. >> i have lost the capacity to be surprised before i heard the fetal masturbation theory. >> as long as walls exist in our hearts to separate us from those who don't look like us. >> cbo, you're full of it. >> amnesty costs a fortune. >> don't come in to be a taker. >> say hello to america's future. >> we're going to have to work harder. the president is at this moment set to depart from germany on his way back to the white house. he and the first family boarded air force one moments ago. after the president spoke earlier today at the historic brandenburg gate. the same place where ronald reagan gave his tear down this wall speech and today, the president discussed national security and called for a reduction in nuclear weapons.

more on that speech just ahead. but it has been a wild day in washington. with the raucous caucus of the gop holding forth on capitol hill in a full day of carnivalesque rallies against immigration reform and enemy number one of the gop, you guessed it, the irs. supporters dofd their tricorner hats bright and early gathering en masse to basque in the wisdom and inspiration of tea party heroes. first, it was the anti-immigrant crowd, the leading lights of steve king, michele bachmann and low i gohmert. and did someone say tear down that wall? >> to build a wall isn't that hard. as i say, we just build it still they stop going around the end. >> give us your tired, your poor, because we'll give you a chance to work.

but we should not be giving a chance to be a taker. >> that amnesty costs a fortune. amnesty could also cost something more than just money. it could cost a nation. >> a bit of actual information on that. a new report from the congressional budget office shows immigration reform would decrease the deficit by $197 billion in the next ten years. over the next decade, from 2024 to 2033, deficits would be reduced by an estimated $700 billion. but never mind the debt. let's get back to the border warriors and strangely enough, a certain tea party star and latino leader was not in evidence at the rally. senator marco rubio member of the gang of eight decided not to

attend. but the mere mention of his name did provoke a vong reaction. >> senator rubio says they're going to have to pay -- >> yes, those were boos for marco rubio. imagine that. but there was much more jeering to come. at high noon, they began a tea party rally to audit the irs. and imagine who should turn up? but steve king, louis gohmert, and former irs tax attorney, michele bachmann. >> now, in my former life, i actually was an insurgent. i absolutely wanted to defeat the tax code. it's time to abolish the irs. >> the irs audited me one too many years in a row. i'd like to get rid of the irs. >> embodiment of oppression, of this being dismissive,

derisen,dy visive. called can the irs. it's time for a change. >> yes, you may be seeing double. king, bachmann and gohmert, the hardest workers in washington doing absolutely nothing for the country. for more now, we're joined by congress monica novotny charles rangel, democrat of new york with us from capitol hill. it's hard to know where to begin with you this afternoon. do we start with the masquerade over the irs or the circus over immigration? it's your choice, sir. perhaps you'd like to lead us into understanding the madness of king louis gohmert. >> it is sad for the country that a handful of people can actually control the majority party. there's no question in my mind that the majority of republicans in the capital and outside don't follow the lack of reason that these people have. but it's their votes that are

necessary for them to keep the majority in the house. and you can see the light shining on the strings every day that we have a republican candidate out here that's trying to achieve something. sooner or later they say the wrong thing and the party has to just swallow it. the truth of the matter is, the republican party because of these people, have written themselves out of business especially as relates to the immigration law. and that means what? it means that they can count. and if you can count and find out that included in your supporters are not women, not asians, not hispanics, not blacks, and certainly not gays, then where do you go? you have 0 go right back to the tea party to ask for your broader support. they know this is not going to happen. but i think that their refusal or reluctancy to endorse an immigration bill that's good for this great country of ours is going to be the last nail in

their coffin of the republican party. and that would be unfortunate. >> it would certainly, sir. do you find it ironic that we had the president speaking today at the famous brand.burg gate war reagan said tear down this wall while here at home, a litany of republicans are urging america to build up a wall that bigger, longer, more fearsome, presumably electrified, perhaps even have a moat with alligators in it? >> let me see if i can top that one, martin. we had a ceremony here in celebration of a statute u of frederick douglass right here in the nation's capital and speaking on it was o'connor, the minority leader in the senate. and he proclaimed that frederick douglass was a republican than understood justice. so you can see that if now they're adopting frederick douglass as their national leader and on the other hand they just need more walls separating us from mexico, it's

really sad. you know, you and i and others can laugh and joke about this. but if you ever have to go abroad or see people from europe and other countries, it is sad for a country that's the world leader to catch yourself in this embarrassing position. and you would think, when you think about gettysburg and the lives that were lost in wars in order to save this democracy, and to see that it's really just now a circus. it's reduced to a embarrassing circus. and how the private sector and business people and the religious leaders allow this to go on without just stopping this outrage i'll never, never never understand it. >> well, mitch mcconnell's equivalent in broadcasting, mr. glenn beck, also had some comments about mr. frederick douglass. let's take a listen to what mr. beck said. >> he knew that god did not make

men to be masters over other men. it is time that americans remind themselves of this truth again. and rise up against the intimidation before the handful of peanuts from our new political circus masters are considered kindness instead of the symbol of evil cruelty which they are. >> congressman, would you like 0 interpret that for our viewers, please? >> no, he's certifiable. you got to give him a pass because any psychiatrist would. but even for a country that enjoys all of these freedoms, i think that those type of extremes in public office and having a national platform is awkward for most americans. >> congressman charles rangel, democrat of new york. thank you, sir, for joining us. >> thank you, martin. >> coming, the president's call to berliners. how closely is the world

listening, plus, a toast to the host. >> i could not be more grateful for the incredible reception that we have received. and i recognize that this signifies the incredible friendship between our two countries. americans will always be grateful especially for some very important germanen immigrants, anheuser-busch. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. i don'without goingcisions to angie's list first. with angie's list, i know who to call, and i know the results will be fantastic! find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

foour neighbors.... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created... a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more.. low and no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know... exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks... with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories... america's beverage companies are delivering.

five years after his visit as a senator, the president spoke before a smaller crowd in berlin this morning. this time summoning a phrase from a very famous speech there 50 years ago to talk about the crisis that enveloped not only

this country but the entire world. the president recalled the words of president john f. kennedy's immortal ichbin berliner speech repeating the words justice. ten times he repeated it using it to talk about immigration and climate change. however, it was this comment that received perhaps the loudest applause. >> we must beyond the mind-set of perpetual war. and in america, that means redoubling our efforts to close the prison at guantanamo. it means -- >> while the prison is deeply unpopular in the rest of the world, it was what the president said just moments later that likely struck a chord here at home. >> it means tightly controlling our use of new technologies like drones. it means balancing the pursuit of security with the protection

of privacy. >> joining us now is clarence page, a columnist with the check tribune and nbc's kristen welker live with us from the white house. kristin, if i might begin with you, the president is quite popular in germany. in fact, we have a chart showing his popularity versus bush's. how pleased is the white house with the reaction to this speech? the heat and the teleprompter issues aside, or course. >> well, those heat issues the president had to remove his jacket and the teleprompter wasn't working. so you saw him reading from his notes there. we will put those issues aside for now, martin. look, as one official says it's hard to beat the optics of the president standing in front of the branden berg gate this symbol of german reunification 50 years after jfk stood in the same spot and talking about the importance of nuclear disarmament. so this are pleased with that. as you point out, he's very popular. if you look at the polls, 88% of germans say that they view him

positively. but of course, there were some issues that overshadowed his comments today. as you pointed out. some germans skeptical about guantanamo bay still being opened and also about the recent revelations over the sa. that is why you heard president obama address both of those issues today. a very different backdrop to 2008. in 2008, you had huge crowds, 200,000 people. today a much smaller crowd. and there were even some protesters there, some of them holding signs that said, yes, we scan. of course, that's a reference to the revelations over the nsa program. white house officials admit look, it's not 2008. but he's not, of course, a candidate and they believe that he accomplished what he needed to, namely, in terms of calling for russia to work with the united states to draw down its nuclear arsenal. martin? >> clarence, what was the president trying to communicate to europe and to americans here the an home? because clearly, this is a very

different condition of moment from that speech as delivered by john f. kennedy and, of course, ronald reagan. what was the president trying to achieve with this speech, do you think? >> it was very important for the president to convey the idea that he has not changed and his goals haven't changed. that that glimmer of newness that he had back in '0 , that's gone. he's not new anymore. the baalities of the office have caught up with him and also that even though he has not been able to close guantanamo and not get cap and trade and he has not been able to do all the wonderful things had he hoped to do on the international scene that he's still trying. to convey that that spirit is still there. i think that he was able to do that also within the context of the fact that you know, i always think as an american how i would feel if it was another country that was a bigger superpower than us in the world. allied with us, but we were more

the junior partner than senior. that gives obama a very special role over there in germany to reassure are the people of germany and our european allies that america is still on their side. >> absolutely. kristin, the president used this speech to announce his proposal to negotiate with russia over reduction of nuclear arms by a third. obviously, when he first came into office, he talked about a reset with the russians. then they signed that initial agreement. how hopeful is the white house that this can actually be accomplished, that this one-third reduction can be achieved? >> well, i think that they're a little skeptical. look, the president's remarks were met with sort of a chilly reception in moscow. russian officials saying that before they can discuss drawing down their nuclear arsenal, that they want to debate the missile defense shield and also expressing concerns about the potential that this could prop

up china. so that is how those remarks were sort of met in russia. if you couple that with the president's recent meeting this week with vladimir putin on the sidelines of the g-8 summit it, sort of underscores that skepticism. they had that sort of very chilly interaction when they sat down on the sidelines to discuss syria. and, of course, president obama samed to get vladimir putin to stop propping up the syrian government and was not successful at doing that. so i don't know that they're that hopeful at this point that that's going to be a reality in the near future. >> and clarence, a final question to you then. in general terms, the g-8 was ostensibly about economic prospects for europe and the united states. but we know the underlying issue was the one that kristin just referred to, which is syria. there doesn't appear to have been much progress with the

russian president over syria. does there? >> doesn't appear to be. that's still when loping along and it's very tragic fashion. we have yet to see what putin really wants. he plays his cards close to the chest. he can't abide too much instability in that region either. but he has to continually convey the idea that he is in charge and that we can't just roll over syria as long as he's in the picture. so we'll wait and see. >> we absolutely will. the chicago tribune's clarence page and kristen welker. thank you both. >> thank you. stay with us. the right by right wing festival continues in today's top lines. >> the only difference between las vegas and washington, d.c. is at least vegas has the decency to admit its full of crooks and hookers. >> god bless the tea party.

i want peacocks. peacocks? walking the grounds. in tuscany. [ man ] her parents didn't expect her dreams to be so ambitious. italy? oh, that's not good. [ man ] by exploring their options, they learned that instead of going to italy, they could use a home equity loan to renovate their yard and have a beautiful wedding right here while possibly increasing the value of their home. you and roger could get married in our backyard. it's robert, dad. [ female announcer ] come in to find the right credit options for your needs. because when people talk, great things happen.

because when people talk, every day we're working to and to keep our commitments. and we've made a big commitment to america. bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u.s. than any other place in the world. in fact, we've invested over $55 billion here in the last five years - making bp america's largest energy investor.

our commitment has never been stronger.

>> we couldn't allow the moment to pass without mentioning the loss of a friend and tremendous journalist. michael hastings, a major contributor to "rolling stone" magazine and buzzfeed died in a road traffic accident in los angeles early on tuesday morning. michael's reporting which won him some of the highest honors of this profession was like the man himself, witty, irreverent, incisive and brutally honest. it was his deeply revealing profile of general stanley mcchrystal three years ago that led the same commanding officer of u.s. forces in afghanistan to tender his resignation. but that story about a four-star general was only part of a rich but unforgivably short career. michael went on to commit his war reporting skills to the

battle for the presidency last year. his book "panic 2012." is a blistering road trip that exposes so much of the arty fis that surrounds presidential campaigns. he joined us several times on this broadcast. and he particularly enjoyed covering the presidential debates. even offering a cheeky hand signal from our set in florida. >> buzz feed correspondent michael hastings. great to have you here, miking >> almost exactly a year ago, michael hastings offered some advice to budding young journalists. in a list of ten bullet points, the ninth said this. "mainly, you really have to love writing and reporting like it's more important to you than anything else in your life." michael hastings was just 33 when he passed away yesterday. vy some honey maid teddy grahams to snack on. are they actually made with real fruit and eight grams of whole grain? does a bear make sparkly hats for dogs?

♪ yes. yes, he does. sprinkle him teddy. ♪ [ mom ] yea, give it more sparkles. [ male announcer ] your kids make great things. so give them a tasty, wholesome snack that has eight grams of whole grain and is now made with real strawberries and bananas. honey maid teddy grahams. two new flavors now made with real fruit. honey maid teddy grahams. [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk.

we're headed the same way, right? yeah. ♪ [ panting ] uh... after you. ♪ [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] it's all in how you get there. the srx, from cadillac. awarded best interior design of any luxury brand. lease this 2013 cadillac srx for around $399 per month, with premium care maintenance included. from open borders to pointy

headed people, here are today's "top lines." paging charles de gaulle. >> remember what charles de gaulle said, god loves drunks, little children and the united states of america. >> brandenburg gate in berlin. >> while reducing our deployed strategic weapons. >> there is a special providence for fools, drunkards and the united states of america. >> what is your nationality. >> i'm a drunkard. >> no wall can stand against the yearning of justice. >> we don't believe in open borders. >> there's something called the open border constituency. >> you're an alien, you're an illegal alien. >> i an bunch of pointy headed people. >> we come from trans. >> we have to be kind to the french. >> this immigration bill passes, it's the end of america as you know it and i know it and these people watching know it. >> it's a nation we ono longer recognize. >> people copping in every day

want to cut your throat, not your lawn. >> it has nothing do with the color of anyone's skin. >> it doesn't take a lot for muhammad to transform himself into miguel. >> it has nothing to do with anyone's ethnicity. >> it is frightening. >> you know that whiff of scandal at the irs? now we learn there's not even that whiff. >> this was the targeting of the president's political enemies. >> one desperate cat congressman whose bluff has been called. >> when you look at all the transcripts, there has not been one single syllable alleging in any way that the white house was involved. >> conservative donors were threatened and conservative groups were systematically ta targeted. >> started with one man believing he was doing his job. >> i am here for a long time. >> let's get right to our panel,ing us now is contributor jimmy williams and democratic

strategist julian epstein. please try and control your laughter for a moat, jimmy. i'll start with julian. the tea party movement as you know has assembled en masse outside the capitol in the washington protesting the oppression they've suffered at the hands of the irs and the president and now on then very day of speaking truth to power, are you really going to tell me that they're wrong? >> yes, i mean, what we've learned yesterday is that the chief protagonist of the administration and the person who has been promoting this irs scandal. >> mr. grand theft auto darrell issa. >> that's right. you should know in life never mind if you're the chairman of the major oversight committee you can't an use people of lying and covering up when in fact, you are the person who was lying and covering up. mr. issa was accusing the white house of orchestrating this irs targeting scheme. he was accusing jay carney of being a liar when in fact he had information absolving the white house and absolving mr. carney,

the white house press secretary. the evidence that was released by congressman cummings yesterday clearly showed that this was a republican career staffer who had initiated this campaign, that the only activity that was really going on in washington was a technical staff who was reviewing it to ensure consistency, that the senior people inside the irs had on two occasions told the cincinnati office to knock it off. this isn't the first time that issa has done these. he made these wild-eyed accusations in the case of fast and furious. he made these incredible and irresponsible accusations in the case of benghazi when it turned out that the fbi and cia were the ones that didn't want to identify the terror suspects in that case. >> are you saying that darrell issa is a liar? >> i am saying that he had information that will absolved the white house when in fact he was saying the exact opposite on television that the white house was responsible for this when he knew that that was false.

so i would say, yes, that's lying >> yes, indeed. jimmy, congressman cummings is the senior democrat as you know on oversight committee. he's really the democrat in charge of dealing with all the leaks that darrell issa has used to tell only a slim part of the story. finally, he got fed up with all that nonsense and here he is with our own chris matthews. take a listen to this, jimmy. >> i got sort of tired, chris, of seeing transcripts being leaked, parts of transcripts being leaked by our chairman, but at the same time, not transcripts of this particular gentleman not being put forth. so that we could get a complete story. all i want to do is make sure that the american people have the complete story. >> jimmy, are any of these revelations going to have any effect on the louis gohmerts and michele bachmanns of the word, folks who think that this is bigger than watergate and the

teapot dome scandal all rolled into one? >> no. and the reason it's not is because they don't want to believe that barack obama is anything other than what they have publicly espoused. those people are the craziys. i am reminded. >> they're members of congress, jimmy. not on the fringe. >> no, they are. they are fringe. >> rand paul, these people are in the very center of the senate and the house. >> well, i would suggest to you that louis -- rand paul was elected statewide in kentucky but you have member from house districts gerry mapdered and chalk full of crazy people that elect crazy people. we have them on the left side, as well. i'm not comparing good lefties to bad righties. i'm just suggesting to you that you have people that get stuck in their ways. there's nothing you can do regardless of evidence that can convince them otherwise. when i first moved here, i remember the dan burton hearings on whitewater, the clintons, et cetera, et cetera, the fred thompson hearings in the senate.

i was an unpaid intern for dick durbin. i used to sits in the fred thompson hearings all the time as a the lowest level staffer you could be -- and i would sit there day in and day out and think there's nothing there there. and we found out there's nothing there. guess what, there's nothing there this time. but that doesn't mean the political damage isn't done. and furthermore, and this is the worst part, it doesn't mean that they're not going to keep investigating if anyone thinks for a second that darrell issa and the republicans in the house and the republicans in the senate aren't going to keep investigating the obama administration for anything, then they're wrong. they are going to. >> absolutely. why not? we've already had 38 votes on the affordable care act. >> absolutely. >> julian, how are people going to argue that it was the white house that was oppressing conservative republicans when all this oppression, all of this started with, you guessed it, a conservative republican who works at the irs?

>> that's right. we have our smoking gun right now. >> we do. >> i said last night the smoking gun is a big dud. have i compared darrell issa jokingly on the show to the inspector clouseau of congressional investigations which is an insult to inspector clouseau. at the end of the day, the inspector at least came up with something. here you've seen investigation after investigation, not one single instance, this has probably been the most scandal free administration in our lifetime, there hasn't been a single instance where anyone tied wrongdoing to anyone in the white house. compare that to the bush years. you had staffers going to jail for outing a cia agent. republican members of congress going to jail for pay to play. $12 billion lost in iraq that couldn't be accounted for. u.s. attorneys fired for political reasons. compared to all of those instances, those were genuine scandals here. jimmy is right, they will continue to go at this smoke screen because guess what, they have nothing else to offer this

country, no substantive agenda. no social agenda, not certainly one that's popular. this is the only game in town that they will have is to keep manufacturing these scandals. thenous media should take this as a case example. next time darrell issa brings you a scandal, they should look at the past three instances and particularly this instance where he was suppressing information from the public that absolved the white house look at this and understand that the likely answer is going to be there's no there there when darrell issa charges scandal. >> msnbc contributor julian williams and jimmy epstein. coming up, republicans insist there is no war on women. but how does that old saying go? actions speak louder than what was it?

[ chainsaw buzzing ] humans. sometimes, life trips us up. sometimes, we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available

for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings -- all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy?

>> jus another day in the life of the majority republican-crowed congress, another day without a jobs bill, another day without a budget agreement. another day ignoring the top priorities of the american people by the republican majority. >> but it would be wrong to say that the gop's abortion vote on tuesday was a complete waste of time. true, the bill banning termination after 20 weeks has absolutely no chance in the senate. and the president has already said he'll never sign it. but republicans did secure a victory in one area. a vote of confidence in the polarized politics that lost them 2012. to discuss the morning after the backlash, we're joined by democratic congresswoman diana degette of colorado who chairs the congressional pro-choice caucus. good afternoon. >> hi, martin. >> to nancy pelosi's point, why weren't you talking about jobs yesterday? >> that was something we all

wanted to know. why weren't we talking about jobs and the economy? why weren't we talking about any of the issues the american public cares about? it's no wonder congress's an probable rating is about 10ers right now. >> we're supposed to learn from our mistakes, aren't we? and comments about rape and abortion plagued the gop in 2012. it's own autopsy, it's own autopsy says they look scary and out of touch. and so what does the op do? it downs down on on abortion. >> i mean i thought if they should have learned anything from the 2012 elections it's ta they shouldn't go after women's personal health care decisions. and instead, that he brought up this bill yesterday and adding to the indignity, they put these so-called exceptions which basically said if somebody is raped and they want to have an abortion, they now are required to report it. and we all know many women don't

report rape because of the stigma or whatever. now they're just making it worse for women. >> right. in fact, i believe the figure is over 35% of women who do not report incidents of rape to law enforcement. your colleague michael burgess bested the bill's author for most outrageous comment yet. i'd like to play it for you for those who haven't heard it. here it comes. >> you watch a sonogram on a 15-week baby and they have movements that are purposeful. they stroke their face, if they're a male baby they may have their hand between their legs. >> ma'am, i'm just asking for your reaction to that. >> so, martin, i think the reason they say these things is because they really believe these things. last week, the bill's sponsor said, well, you know, there's hardly any times a woman gets pregnant from rape. there be channeling i think akin from last year.

and people ask me all the time, surely they know how ridiculous they look in the american public. why do they say these things. i say it's because they think them. this is what they think. >> even if there is no fact you'llule basis for their viewer. >> apparently science is not an impediment to this. >> indeed. diana degette, thanks you for your explanation. >> you're welcome. >> thank you. coming up, it's the end of the world as we know it. not so fast. i'm the next american success story. working for a company where over seventy-five percent of store management started as hourly associates. there's opportunity here. i can use walmart's education benefits to get a degree, maybe work in it, or be an engineer, helping walmart conserve energy. even today, when our store does well, i earn quarterly bonuses. when people look at me, i hope they see someone working their way

up. vo: opportunity, that's the real walmart. what are you guys doing? having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support regularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'.

when the wall finally came down, it was their dreams that were fulfilled. their enduring example reminds us that for all the power of militaries, for all the authority of governments, it is citizens who choose whether to be defined by a wall or whether

to tear it down. >> in his speech today in berlin, the president paid tribute to the power of individual citizens over the power of the state. but was he just paying lip service to individual liberty on his latest trip overseas? our next guest has his suspicions. professor neil ferguson is a senior fellow of the hoover institution, and professor of history at harvard and his latest book "the great degeneration," has also just been published. so despite what the president has just said, professor ferguson, you take a different view of his approach top civic governance, don't you. >> i do have to be a little bit skeptical. i refreshed my memory by going back to the 1963 kennedy speech which was significantly shorter. and then ronald reagan's speech

in 1987 which interestingly the president didn't refer to at all today. that's a far more impressive speech when you go acto it because what ronald reagan said was mr. gorbachev, tear this wall down. although it's nice to pretend that they for the wall down because individuals -- rng -- i listen to the obama speech today. >> hold on. that was the role of governance today. >> the berlin wall came down because of foreign policy change. fundamental change which was that the jove yet union decided to let go of the german democratic republic. >> here's the thing. your book promotes the activities of private yizs as opposed to the actions of the state. you talk about clearing up a space of beach with some people that you got together. that kind of commitment to social service and civic responsibility. but what happens when hurricane sandy lands on your doorstep and

750,000 houses are destroyed. >> of course it's something that i wrote about in the sense of money when i looked at what happened in katrina in new orleans. book doesn't say we can solve all our problems ourselves. the point i'm trying to make in the great degeneration, there are four things going wrong in western societies. one is an era of public finance where we're creating huge burdens for future generations which is a fairly well established point. the second is we have an explosion of regulation and that we need to address that in a serious way because it's killing oven sentatives for small businesses into even though actually those regulations have been held responsible for much of lack of regulations of what went wrong during 2007, 2008. >> it's an interesting point. that idea that financial crisis was cause by deregulation is in fact at variance with the evidence. the number of regulators rose rapidly from the 19 0s as did the number of regulations. >> in london what happened was

the big bang occurred because regulation was diminished. >> you're talking of england. look at the extremely interesting analysis that was done by the bank of england last year. looking at the extent to which in fact regulation grew on both sides of the atlantic. what caused the crisis? this is a point i try to make in the book was excessively complex regulation which could be gamed by too big to fail institutions and which made the system for fragile. we delude ourselves if we say it was caused by deregulation, it was caused by bad regulation. it was the most regulated institutions, banks and institutions like fannie and freddie that blew up. we have to be very careful here. drawing the wrong lessons from financial history is a recipe for repeating the mistakes that led to the crisis. believe me, we are repeating them. we have dodd-frank and bazel three massively more complex than the previous regulations. we'll find out soon enough the system is more fragile.

>> your suggestion is we do nothing. >> not at all. the book argues we need to have effective regulation but it needs to be one simple and two, credible in enforcement. people were not afraid of the regulators in 2007. i think they still aren't because in the end, the regulators had a great many regulation buzz no teeth. where are the people in jail? >> we're asking that question ourselves. >> that's a point i make. not enough people have paid a heavy enough penalty for what went on in the crisis because they can hide behind jungle of complex regulation and say we were compliant and write a check to settle the civil suits. that is not a system that is stable. that's the kind of argument that i'm trying to make in the book. the point about civil society is important. we used to solve a lot of problems specially in the united states and didn't expect government to fix them. local problems. but we've lost the ability to do

that. we're bowling alone to use a frame from robert putnam. that problem has got worse since he wrote that essa i. >> we could spend hours. i'm sorry you haven't treated us to any of your magnificent humor today. i understand you're having to be more circumspect. >> thank you very much. the book as i said is the great degeneration. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is betsy. her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪ all aboard. uh-oguess what day it is!is?? huh...anybody? julie! hey...guess what day it is?? ah come on, i know you can hear me. mike mike mike mike mike... what day is it mike? ha ha ha ha ha ha! leslie, guess what today is? it's hump day. whoot whoot!

ronny, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? i'd say happier than a camel on wednesday. hump day!!! yay!! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. [ banker ] mike's younger brother, kevin, had his college degree, his first real job, and needed to establish his credit history so he could rent a place of his own. mike helped kevin find ways to build his credit -- like any good big brother would do. now kevin has his own place, he's building his credit history, and mike has his apartment back -- for the most part. so i may be able to do this. yeah. [ female announcer ] let's talk about ways to help you establish and build your credit history. when people talk, great things happen. to help you establish and build your credit history. help the gulf recover, andnt to learn from what happenedg goals: so we could be a better, safer energy company. i've been with bp for 24 years. i was part of the team that helped deliver on our commitments to the gulf - and i can tell you, safety is at the heart of everything we do.

we've added cutting-edge safety equipment and technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all our drilling activity, twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. safety is a vital part of bp's commitment to america - and to the nearly 250,000 people who work with us here. we invest more in the u.s. than anywhere else in the world. over fifty-five billion dollars here in the last five years - making bp america's largest energy investor. our commitment has never been stronger. 14 clubs. that's what they tell us a legal golf bag can hold. and while that leaves a little room for balls and tees, it doesn't leave room for much else. there's no room left for deadlines or conference calls. not a single pocket to hold the stress of the day, or the to-do list of tomorrow.

only 14 clubs pick up the right one and drive it right down the middle of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. . >> most importantly, we are committed to stopping this obama care legislation from actually happening. we can't have this health care bill become law. we just can't have it. >> i hate to break it to tea party congressman jim jordan but after the supreme court ruled its constitutionality and nearly 40 repeal votes in the house have come and gone, the affordable care act is in fact the law of the land. the process of implementing the law is under way, but for those

in need of care who are without medical insurance right now, there is no time to waste. i want to welcome in nicole lamorea examine, executive director of the national association of free and charitable clinics. with us from washington. good afternoon. >> as you know team obama is deeply engaged in its effort to get people to enroll in the act and apply for insurance that will kick in early next year. but there are of course, millions of uninsured who need care right now. so can you tell us what your group is doing to help such? >> well, across the country, there are 1200han free and charitable clinics that every single day sand in the gap that exists for health care for so many working poor. what we're doing on july 3rd is we're turning in a convention center into the world's largest doctor's office in new orleans. we're going to help people get connected to the care they need and the follow-up care that they need because so many people don't know the where they can go to access care. so we're helping them with that

process. >> but nick co, i was under the impression from republicans that people without insurance they just don't want it. and they prefer folk remedies and bleeding with leeches. you're telling me the uninsured are actually seeking out care? >> i find that ridiculous every single time i hear it. in fact, we have 83% of the patients who come to our clinics come from a working household. 54% of the people who come are women working women, single mothers, mothers. and what they want is they want a handup, not a handout. they're looking for health care. they're looking for ways to become healthy. and thereafter productive members of society. of course, they want health care. in fact, many people who come to our clinics haven't been to a doctor for over five years. not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't afford it. >> so you're telling me that 38 votes to repeal the affordable care act is not going to help the people of this country? >> it's absolutely not going to

help the people of this country. listen, the passage of the affordable care act it's law now. it's time for us to start working in tandem with the law. continuing to try to repeal something that's law is only hurting people that need the most help. the working poor in this country need help and that's what we're going to be doing for them. >> nicole lamoreaux, thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. this note about a continuing health initiative. msnbc is partnering with the group on its eighth free health clinic. the reverend al sharpton will anchor "politics nation" from the clinic in new orleans on july 3rd. in order for these clinics to be a success, we need your help. and if you're able to donate or volunteer, please go to the national association of free clinics website to make a contribution, sign up to vol ear. if you don't have insurance and need to see a doctor, you can, of course, make an appointment. thanks so much for watching

this afternoon. chris matthews and "hardball" picks things up right now. the berlin story. let's play "hardball." let me start with this. ich ein berliner. 50 years after kennedy, barack obama signaled his support for nuclear arms reduction, the need to move beyond what he called perpetual war and committing to closing guantanamo. tonight the politics of berlin. his close partnership with angel la merkel what it says about a woman's readiness for world leadership. is merkel showing the way for hiar